>> 23 May 2004

THE FOLLY OF POWER SHARING...

I see that Irish separatism has become increasingly vitriolic in its opinions of the DUP. I am not the greatest fan of that party despite being a former member. However, they have a mandate from the pro-Union people not to engage with Irish separatism until such time as the latter has shorn itself of terrorist association. As a consequence of this principled stance, the Unionist people in general, and the DUP in particular, have been subjected to the usual criticisms, blandishments, sanctimonious victimhood and eternal whinging from the most ascetic journalistic hacks who fawn over Sinn Fein/IRA terror machine.

There is one simple lesson that every Unionist worth his salt must learn: sharing power over a part of the state with those whose raison d’etre is to destroy that same state is a recipe for protracted instability. There is no other key to the achievement of a so-called ‘united’ Ireland other than the allowance of separatism at the heart of Ulster’s governance. There are certainly no demographic or socio-economic paths to the separatists’ Nirvana. I trust that the pro-Union people, and indeed the DUP, will remember those salient facts when called upon to do so.